Call My Name
by Freak-With-Issues
Summary: What would have happened if Sakura had fought Gaara at her first Chunin exam? Now, they work together in his village, but things are never that simple. She still feels different around him and he still gets odd sensations in his chest only she brings on. Together, they fight feelings for each other as well as threats to both their lives.
1. Battle Cry

**A/N: **Right now this is an one-shot but if you guys like it I'll add to it, maybe even turn it into a story. I was inspired by a GaaraxSakura AMV on youtube by Sasuke216 so please go check it out.

**Edit: (7.6.12. The picture for this story was created by Th3Juic3 from DeviantART, check out Th3Juic3's profile here: th3juic3deviantartcom just add a period after the second 3 and the t of art.)**

"And the next match is Sakura Haruno versus Gaara Sabaku!" No one moved, no one spoke. Everyone thought, _That pathetic little girl is going to get killed in there! She should just forfeit now!_

Sakura slowly blinked and then headed to the steps leading into the arena but Naruto stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to do this Sakura-chan! You can forfeit and be safe!" Sakura shook her head before staring right into Naruto's eyes.

"I can't look weak in front of Sasuke-kun." And then she was gone, climbing down the steps and walking to the center of the arena. There, standing across from her with a wicked grin that stretched across his lips and showed in his eyes, was the bloodthirsty monster she feared. She glanced back at where her team was to see Sasuke staring at her with a passive expression. _I must be strong. I must win._ Ran through her head over and over, becoming her mantra. She had to show Sasuke she wasn't useless and that she could win. She had to.

The match started and Gaara immediately made hand signs, his sand slithering up off the ground and making a cocoon around him save for a hole in the front so she could still see him. With a deep breath she pumped chakra into her feet and charged at him, throwing out kunai and senbon needles at him. They ricocheted off his shield and she cursed under her breath while continuing to sprint at him. Quickly, when she was closing in on him, she made two clones that spilt off to go on the sides of the cocoon. She was within three feet of him, about to unless an onslaught of close range attacks in an attempt to tire him out, when a sand tendril whipped out and smacked away her and her clones.

She flew across the arena, stopping only when she hit the opposite wall. She was aware of Naruto calling her name, Ino screaming at her to not lose, and Lee cheering her on, but she noticed the one voice that mattered wasn't there. She just had to try harder. She shakily got to her feet, crying out when pained ripped through her chest. That was no excuse.

She again pushed chakra into her feet and sprinted at Gaara who had dropped his cocoon to let the sand spread out around him and form tendrils that were smashing against the floor in a taunt. She closed in on him, dodging a tendril that had attempted to sweep her legs out from under her. The next tendril was faster though and managed to clip her shoulder sending her sideways where another tendril had been waiting in case she had been hit. It smashed into her back, knocking out her breath and sending her to the floor hacking.

Then, another tendril was upon her and hit her side sending her skidding across the hard floor. She dug her nails into the ground in an attempt to slow herself so she didn't hit the wall and her fingers began to bleed from the harsh friction. She finally stopped, taking in gulps of air, a luxury she didn't have. Gaara had moved towards her on a wave of sand and a tendril flew out and wrapped itself around her right leg. She screamed at the pressure, only worsening the pain in her chest. Suddenly she was yanked from the ground up into the air before the tendril pulled her away from the wall for the momentum before throwing her straight into it.

She let out a piercing scream, realizing then this match would likely end in her death. She was about to call for mercy, beg to end the match, when she noticed she was on the opposite side of the arena as her team and Sasuke was staring at her with disgust. Across the arena, somehow, she was able to see him mutter. "**Pathetic**."

That word brought her to her feet despite the pain, despite the cries against it in both her mind and from the audience. She swayed, almost toppling back over, but steadied herself on the wall stained with her blood. _My...blood? _She looked down to see her right leg had a long gash on it, stretching from the top of her thigh to the top of her knee. Odd, she didn't recall getting it. Then she noticed the blood running down her chin from her mouth. She didn't remember coughing up blood either.

Then she turned her gaze back on Gaara, doing several hand signs and producing a second her. She knew she was running low on chakra, still exhausted from the Forest of Death, but this move might help her. She sprinted to the left of Gaara, the red head keeping his wide eyes and twisted smile on her, before veering straight at him. Her only chance of getting ahead would be to hurt him in close range and shock him. She ran moving faster and faster until she was merely feet from him before she saw Gaara whisper something and the sand came together in one huge tendril that slapped her away.

She flew, becoming unaware of her surroundings. As she lay on the arena floor, having landed on the ground after hitting a wall and falling, she could only feel pain. She strained to hear, tried to hear his voice and see if he acknowledge her fighting. She couldn't hear him, but she felt the sand slide up and cover her whole body except her head. She felt it lift her off the ground, rising until she was at the level of the balconies which she could make out through bleary eyes. She saw him and realized, with a burst of joy, Sasuke was leaning on the railing screaming for her to quit.

She smiled at him, the best smile she could form through the pain. "_I tried._" She called to him quietly, feeling the sand tighten.

"Sand coffin!" mingled with, "Sakura!" were the last things she head before the pain became too strong.


	2. Suspicious Mercy

**A/N: **By the way, I like Tsunade as Hokage so in this story the Hokage before her died off of old age and she was put as Hokage earlier. And the match wouldn't have been stopped because the match, of what I know so correct me if I'm wrong, can only be stopped if one participant gives up, if one participant is unable to continue, if both participants are unable to continue, or if one participant is killed. I'll fix it if I'm wrong. This one is short, but the action picks up in the next chapter/the chapter after that.

Everything was dark when she opened her eyes and it scared her. If she was dead, where was she? If she was alive, why was it so dark? She tried to sit up and along with a sharp jolt of stabbing pain she quickly felt hands on her shoulders pushing her back down. She struggled away from them and suddenly everything became blindingly bright. She closed her eyes and groaned from how much it hurt them combined with the pain in her body.

"That's why I had the light off you baka! Now turn them off!" The blinding whiteness faded from her vision leaving her with darkness again. As the seconds of silence ticked by her eyes adjusted and she could see Tsunade leaning over her, the hands earlier presumably being hers, and Naruto standing by the door with a worried expression.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak but Tsunade clamped a hand over her mouth and scolded, "Not yet. I'm going to explain the situation first." Sakura nodded and Tsunade removed her hand before sighing. "Well, you went into the arena and everyone was worried about you. The first time you hit one of the walls you coughed up blood and Kakashi came to get me knowing the match wouldn't end well and I came back with him to the arena. When we got there you were on the ground and Gaara hit you on the side sending you across the arena. Almost everyone was screaming for the match to stop at that point, but you just wouldn't give up. Even that Uchiha boy was yelling at you.

"Gaara then wrapped his sand around you and performed the move he calls 'Sand Coffin' on you. It compresses the sand around you to break your bones and basically smash your body. For some reasons Gaara refuses to reveal, he stopped midway through the attack and used his sand to put you on the balcony where I was before announcing you were unable to continue and leaving the arena." Sakura was baffled by the news since everyone seemed terrified of the red head claiming he was a heartless monster who killed for fun.

She looked down at her body to see there were bandages wound around her chest and casts covered her legs. Her right arm, the one clipped by the tendril, was in a sling and bandages went from her elbow down to cover her fingertips with matching ones on her other hand which had probably been damaged by her using them as traction. "How bad off am I?"

Tsunade gave her a smile and replied, "Not too bad actually. Give your body a couple months and you should be able to return to fighting because in this case I feel if I tried to heal it the process would rush your body and things may shift putting you in a worse condition. I will be closely monitoring your broken ribs, but your legs were only fractured so they will heal faster. I have no idea why Gaara stopped the attack, but you're lucky he did. If he'd put a little more effort into it he could have killed you."

Sakura didn't like the idea of her life being decided on how tightly someone clenched their fists, but tried not to show it. "How you feeling Sakura-chan?" Sakura had almost forgotten about Naruto being there and forced a smile for him.

"I'm good Naruto. I'm glad you showed up. Where are Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun?" Naruto's face fell at her comment and she tried to blurt out an apology but he spoke first.

"Kakashi went to go talk to Gaara's sensei and Sasuke-teme went home." It was Sakura's turn to have a crestfallen expression when he said that.

"I didn't mean I didn't care you were here Naruto, I guess I just thought more people would notice I was in the hospital." she joked but was actually extremely hurt by the lack of concern people had for her. "When can I check out?" she asked next.

"Well, you've been unconscious for three days so, because you couldn't do anything while you were out and recuperated well, I'd say now as long as you are released into the care of someone who can take care of you." Sakura again was saddened and was forced to explain things.

"Well, my parents aren't exactly home. They went to visit some relatives." While her parents were kind people and worked hard, they avoided her like the plague. Though she was weak, they were afraid of her since she was a ninja. They, as often as they could, left to visit friends and family leaving her alone in the house.

Tsunade stared at her for several moments before stating, "Well since you can't take care of yourself whose care can I release you into?" There was an awkward silence after that and while Sakura knew Naruto wanted to volunteer, the blond obviously realized he couldn't take care of her. "I guess you'll be sticking here then."


	3. Sand Saviour

**A/N: **By the way, if you haven't already realized this, I will be doing everything my way from the fight at the Chunin exams on to work with my plot better. Sorry if you don't like it! Also, I have a poll up on my profile about which story(ies) I should update next so...if you read any of my other work you can vote. **4.28.12.** **IMPORTANT: **I'm sorry about not updating, but my computer was mauled by a virus from an infected e-mail I opened from my friend not knowing her e-mail had been hacked and the hacker sent out to everyone in her contact book a computer killer. It has been in the shop before last night but I was coming home from a party and fell straight into bed. The good thing is, Best Buy's Geek Squad kicks ass and saved all of my stuff. All my documents, all my internet favorites, hell even my internet history was saved!

Staying with Tsunade at the hospital had been an interesting adventure with the blonde woman's insane temper and drinking habits, but despite all that she really was a kind woman. Currently, Sakura sat beside Ino in the stand's front row since her wheelchair would fit nowhere else at the arena for the final section of the Chunin exams and she was wringing her hands in anxiety. Sitting in her wheelchair with her left leg still in a cast to come off in a week since it had been hurt worse, she had been unable to pace which was her usual form of venting anxiety or anger.

First there was the whole Sasuke being missing and his match being postponed and the fight had only added to the stress. Already she had been to the point she almost tore her hair out when Naruto had fought Neji with all that the blond idiot had been up against. She was extremely relieved when he'd won and Ino had agreed with her it was an amazing match.

After that was Shikamaru and Temari which had at least been a somewhat easier to watch match because she didn't know Temari and wasn't particularly close with Shikamaru. She had been shocked when the lazy genius had just given up, but then again so had the rest of the crowd been. When the time came for Gaara and Sasuke's match she was jumping out of her skin nervous and Ino had to yell at her for straining her health. At first, only Gaara had been there standing in the middle of the ring with his arms crossed and gourd on his back. She, staring at him, recalled their talk.

_Flashback_

_Sakura had been wheeling herself towards the flower shop to visit Ino in her boredom when she saw Gaara perched on a rooftop staring down at the civilians like they were ants. She had waved her hand and called, "Gaara!" His cold gaze had snapped to her and she had to fight the urge to drop her gaze to the ground. "Come down, I want to talk to you."_

_The red head had just stood there staring at her and after several minutes of him standing still she was about to leave, thinking he didn't want to talk to her, when he leapt off the building. A platform of sand flew from his gourd to cushion his jump and it slowly lowered him to the ground before her wheelchair. "What?" he asked in his grating voice that gave her goosbumps._

_"I wanted to thank you I guess for...not killing me? That sounds weird but Tsunade-sama said you could have easily hurt me worse and you didn't, so thank you!" She flashed him a broad smile and he stared at her like she'd grown a third head. "And I know you're not supposed to look a gift horse in the mouth and all," she added with her expression molding into one of confusion, "but I just wanted to know why. I know I'm not special and we've never met before."_

_Gaara stared at her for a moment, eyes fixed on hers, before his eyes began roaming her body picking over her every detail only pausing on her injuries. "You do not fear me."_

_Sakura's expression turned to one of surprise and she replied, "What?"_

_"You do not fear me. In that match I sensed determination to not fail in front of the Uchiha and fear from you, but the fear was of death. Not even death by my hands, just death itself." His face remained impassive while he spoke, but she saw a spark of curiosity when he talked to her._

_Her mouth formed an 'o' and she nodded, working to understand what he meant. "So...because I didn't fear you, you thought I was different and didn't kill me?"_

_Before she got an answer he just disappeared in a swirl of sand leaving her to blink. When she looked down to begin wheeling herself along she found a small vile with sand in it on her lap. She smiled at it and tucked it in her pocket before continuing on her way._

_End Flashback_

When Sakura had entered the arena Sakura's heart had involuntarily dropped realizing the Uchiha prodigy and Gaara were going to fight. _What if Gaara gets hurt? _Sakura couldn't help but wonder. Once the match commenced Sasuke darted towards Gaara at such a speed he almost wasn't visible as he moved. Gaara's expression was one of aggravation at the lack of upper hand he had in the match as he lashed out of sand tendrils that she couldn't help but wince at when they smacked against the ground.

Sasuke managed to slip through the tendrils and neared Gaara before the red head pulled his sand in around him forming a very familiar cocoon. Sasuke threw fast kicks at the cocoon, appearing quickly at one side of the sand shell and then at another, but it didn't even crack. Things continued like that until the sand exploded outwards throwing Sasuke backwards. Sakura's hand flew to the vial of sand in her left pocket and she gripped it tightly as some sort of reassurance. Sasuke was quickly back on his feet and going at Gaara with a quick procession of attacks that only wore on Sakura's nerves. When Sasuke managed to land a kick on Gaara, hitting Gaara right in the face, she nearly screamed and had to clamp her mouth shut while gripping the vial.

Gaara's head had been turned sideways from the kick and when it turned forward again it contained a rather disturbing smirk. That was when a ticking noise began echoing through the arena and Gaara's smirk disappeared. Quickly he summoned his sand towards him before having it lift himself off the ground and push him up to the stands. He landed on the stands and leapt towards Sakura just as a loud sound filled the air and everything began to shake.

When Sakura pried her eyes open, her ears ringing and vision spinning, she found she was on her back on the ground with Gaara holding himself up above her with his knees planted on the ground outside of her legs. It was dark around them and she couldn't tell where they were. "Gaara what ha-"

"Are you hurt?" She was stunned by the question and still wanted to know what was going on.

"Gaara, why is it dark? Where are we? What happened?"

"Are. You. Hurt?" Gaara repeated angrily.

Seeming to only hear his words then Sakura blinked and glanced herself over. "No. I'm fine."

"Good. We are surrounded by my sand and it protected us from the explosion. Stay down and hide under the benches. Don't come up until the medics from your village arrive." The sand suddenly retracted into Gaara's gourd. Gaara stood up and moved away from them revealing their surroundings which could only be described as chaos. People were screaming for help and screaming in pain, there were red splashes all over, the arena had been completely obliterated and a huge pit was all that was left with the walls being completely crumbled. Sakura looked to her right shaking in fear to find Ino lying on the ground not moving.

She quickly moved to her friend finding a pulse on her wrist which brought a heavy, and shaky, breath of relief. She stared around in complete horror as she saw debris buried deep in some people made her lean over and throw up everything she'd eaten for lunch. The morbid sights were just too much for her. Gaara was stilling standing there glancing around the arena with an unreadable expression.

When his gaze returned to her he growled, "Get under the benches," and then disappeared. She didn't do as he asked, concern for her friends overwhelming her. After pushing Ino under the benches for cover Sakura forced herself to her feet and began walking around slightly dragging her leg with the cast. It was such a burden at a time where she needed to be quick. She pressed herself against one of the pillars at the railing of the stands and looked around to see what was going on. Ninjas she did not recognize were swarming into the stands and attacking people.

Ninja's she knew, especially senseis and other genin, were fighting against the attacking ninja and protecting the civilians. She managed to pick out Kakashi and Naruto working side by side nearby protecting a large ground of injured civilians. She then realized Sasuke had been in the arena during the explosion and moved from her hidden spot to lean over the damaged and falling apart railing to search for the raven haired boy.

When she saw him she had to suck in a deep breath. He was following after Gaara and the two were running from the arena out into the forest. That was when she made the decision to follow because seeing those two running out to where they could battle without restraint made her terrified. She pushed off the railing landing in the pit with some protest from her injured leg before running off after the two.


	4. Questionably a Traitor

**A/N: **Alright, I got to this point and got stuck. Do you guys want me to end it here, or continue it when they're older like Shippuden because after the attack and for a while I don't see a real reason for Gaara to return to Konoha. I'm considering doing the whole 'Sand needs a medic to train theirs and Sakura is sent there' plot but I'd really like to go with suggestions from you guys. Also, I know Gaara is OOC, but I've always seen him as a wild animal when in Shukaku, scared and confused (with a lot of bloodlust mixed in) so...that's why this chapter goes the way it does. Enjoy!

Sakura was struggling to trail the two boys with her leg aching every time she landed on a different branch. She caught sight of red or black every once in a while, but mostly knew she was on the right path because of the destruction. Trees were destroyed and there were even the occasional blood splashes that kept her going despite the toll it was taking on her. Her breathing was getting heavier and her vision was no better off the way it tunneled and spun. When she heard a roar from nearby she knew the two had finally stopped to fight and pushed herself even harder.

When she entered the clearing created by the two destroying a large section of trees Sakura was shocked to see Gaara's sand had attached to his one side and he looked like he was struggling to contain whatever it was taking over him. The sand arm on his side reminded of her of the sand tendrils, but attached to him. She paused to catch her breath on a branch on the edge of the clearing and had to watch as Sasuke kicked and punched Gaara while the red head backed away and his sand arm sometimes whipped out at the dark haired boy.

When the burning in her lungs had eased she shoved herself onto the next branch and advanced on the two. At the same time Sasuke began to taunt the red head while attacking him. "No wonder no one likes you. You're a monster that should have been killed years ago. It's a surprise you haven't killed your family yet!" That seemed to strike a nerve in Gaara because his head jerked up and his eyes were a different color. Just as Gaara prepared for an attack Sakura arrived on the same branch as Sasuke and jumped in between Gaara and her teammate.

"Sasuke! Stop it! He's too strong for you!" That was when she felt the familiar feeling of sand on her skin and swiveled her head around to look at Gaara. His sand was slithering along the branch she and Sasuke were on and slipped up her legs until it covered her from the waist down in a tight, but not suffocating hold. Suddenly, it jerked her up off the branch and lifted her through the air to reside in front of Gaara, face to face with the newly transformed version of him. His face twisted into a sinister grin and he reached out his still human hand and placed it on her cheek

She watched him cautiously, unsure of what he planned to do with her and somewhat wary. He began stroking her face with his hand and somehow it relaxed her. The tension in her muscles eased and she calmly called to Sasuke, "Sasuke, go back to the village. Help Kakashi-sensei protect the villagers but don't tell them where I am. I'll meet you there later."

Sasuke snarled and replied, "I'm not leaving you here with this monster! He'll kill you as soon as I leave!" Somehow, hearing that Sasuke didn't want to leave her with someone dangerous didn't make her heart sing, though she didn't dwell on it. Gaara growled when Sasuke called him a monster and reared back his sandy fist to punch Sasuke but Sakura intervened.

"Gaara, no!" Gaara turned to face her and his eyes were flickering back to their normal sea foam color. They held the expression of a scolded puppy and she softly told him, "Gaara, ignore Sasuke. Look at me. I'm right here and I'm worried about you." As instructed Gaara kept his gaze, his eyes remaining their usual color in longer intervals, on her as she softly soothed him with gentle words.

"Sakura, get away from him! Don't talk to that monster!" Gaara looked angry at the comment but didn't move to look away from her.

Unlike Gaara, Sakura was quick to react and yelled, "Sasuke, shut up! Go back to the village! Gaara isn't a monster!" That seemed to soothe Gaara even further because bits of his sand arm began to fall away to puddles of sand on the branch he stood on. Sakura's eyes softened, still not understanding what was going on with Gaara, but unable to control the anger she felt when Sasuke was mean to the red head. Something about the Gaara was special to her and it dulled her obsession with Sasuke.

She smiled at Gaara and whispered, "Gaara, you need to turn back to your regular form. You might hurt yourself if you don't." That was when Gaara's sand began to fall away faster and quickly only the Gaara she knew was left staring at her with his hand on her cheek and sand holding her up.

"That's it!" Sasuke yanked out senbon and kunai from his holster and whipped them at Gaara ignoring the high chance Sakura would get hit because she was between the two. She cried out when the weapons cut her arms and side as well as sank into her back. It caused Gaara to growl loudly and use his sand to move Sakura to the ground before forming a protective sand cocoon around her.

Gaara growled ferociously, glaring harshly at the Uchiha. "You hurt your own teammate. You hurt Sakura," the red head hissed.

Sasuke simply smirked and haughtily replied, "She was in my way and acted loyal to you. She is simply a burden." That infuriated Gaara and he dove at Sasuke lashing out with the sand that wasn't protecting Sakura. He smashed the Uchiha away from him with a single sweep of his sand and was about to resume his attack when he heard a cry of pain from the cocoon where Sakura was. He quickly jumped down to the ground beside the cocoon and opened a doorway inside. He stepped inside the cool sphere to hear Sakura cry out again and watched as she stifled a sob while pulling the weapons from her skin.

He went to her and gathered her in his arms, careful of her injuries, knowing she needed medical attention because there was too much blood for this liking. He turned the cocoon to a wave of sand and had it lift him, Sakura in his arms, up above the tree line and rode it back towards the village leaving the unconscious Uchiha behind. As he closed in on the village he saw the absolute chaos and had to dodge through people fighting and both injured and dead bodies on his sand on the way to the hospital.

When he finally arrived he had his sand drop him on the ground by the front door and brought it back into his gourd. He entered the building with a fast pace and received several incredulous looks since apparently people had begun to realize that Sand was in on the attack and was a threat. People moved back from him but he ignored them and moved straight to the front desk where a frazzled looking woman stood.

"She's hurt. Help her." The woman hesitated and Gaara repeated himself in a more ferocious voice. That snapped the woman out of her frozen state and she moved around the desk to grab Sakura. "She has weapons in her back, don't hurt her." The woman nodded with a confused expression before taking Sakura from his arms. It stirred the pink haired girl from her slipping between consciousness and unconsciousness state and she looked up at Gaara.

"Wait, Gaara! Gaara don't leave! Take me back to Gaara! Gaara!" Gaara felt a strange pang in his chest as he turned and walked away while Sakura was carried away and placed stomach down on a gurney and wheeled off. He didn't understand the feeling and his hand quickly came up to clutch the cloth of his shirt over his heart.


	5. Grow Up

**********A/N: **Short, I know, but I'm setting things up for later! Enjoy!

Five Years Later

Sakura stared at Tsunade, nodding her head as her mission was read off to her. "Suna, as part of our recent peace treaty and alliance, requested medics to help train theirs since their medical field is lacking. Since we can't spare large numbers right now with anual check ups soon and those need large numbers of basicly trained medics, I decided to send you to teach classes. Your stay will span from six months to a year, depending upon how fast the medics there pick up the skills."

"Is that all?" Sakura asked. She had spoken with Tsunade beforehand about some probable conditions of the treaty, lending medics being one of them since Sakura had noticed their medics lack of ability when she had healed Kakuro. Tsunade had also told her that she would porbably be sent because other than herself, Sakura was the number one medic.

"Take care of yourself. I want you back in one piece." Sakura nodded, smiling fondly at her Shishiou. Asking to become Tsunade-sama's had been the best choice she'd ever made. It had strengthened her physically definitly, but also emotionaly. Tsunade had become the strong and caring mother figure she'd never had with her parents fearing her so much.

Sakura nodded before heading out of the office and making her way home. On the way she passed Ichiraku and paused when she saw two familiar bodies seated on the stools. "Hi guys." She greeted as she stepped into the shop. Sasuke, who had returned to the village a year before after killing Orochimaru and earning him a punishment that only kept him on C missions for a year, acknowledged her with a nod. He, after killing the snake man, had for some reason realized the error of his ways and returned to Konoha with his hands up. Sakura had originally been suspicious of it being a ploy to gain the village's trust so he could invade, but her suspicions later faded. Beside him Naruto was slurping ramen and attempted to speak through a mouthful to greet her.

"Sakura-chan!" He gulped down the last of his ramen before leaping towards her and latching onto her right leg. "I heard you got called to Baa-chan's office! Don't tell me you're really going to the sand!" She had, in hopes of making her departure easier and less sudden, warned all her friends and family about the posibility of her leaving. Some, like Ino, had cooed about how lucky she was to go to Suna where it was so hot that all the guys, who were incredibly sexy of course, walked around shirtless. Others, like Naruto, had sobbed and clutched her limbs begging her not to leave.

"Naruto, I have to help this alliance strong and the Kazagage requested it." Sakura was forced to remind the loud blond.

"I need to have a word with Gaara!"

Sakura could only smile upon hearing Gaara's name. After the way things had gone down five years before, she'd often find herself thinking of the handsome red head. She was proud of him for becoming Kazekage and learning to control what she'd later learned to be the Jinjuuruki inside him. She had admitted to herself she missed the sand demon host, having feeling pangs of lonlieness even in a crowd whenever he came to mind or came up in conversation. She especially felt alone around people romantically involved with one another, bringing her to the conclusion maybe she'd seen Gaara as more of a friend, him saving her life after Sasuke had hit her with senbon and kunai adding to that.

"Gaara, or Kazakage-sama as you should be calling him," she told him smacking him over the head, "isn't at fault. Do you want people dying in Suna because their medics weren't properly trained?" That made Naruto silent as she knew it would. "Now I'm going to get my bags that I already packed and head out. Meet me at the village gates if you want to give me a proper goodbye before I leave." She then kicked him off her leg befored turning and going to her apartment to gather her bags. She had everything ready and almost felt guilty for being so excited to leave.

She pulled the large duffel back strap tighter, having packed as much as she could into the one bag but she knew she would still have to buy things when she arrived in Suna. Six months of living did not fit in one bag plus the pack she wore around her waist. She gave her studio apartment one more glance before heading out the door and making her way towards the village gates. She could already see the bright orange blob that was Naruto when the gates came into view, but was surprised to see the rest of Team 7 with him.

When she reached them Sai gave her one of his fake smiles before proclaiming, "I don't know why Suna would want you, ugly. You aren't a very good medic." Though the comment pissed her off, she knew the under-emotional boy didn't mean to sound so bad.

Naruto glared at Sai and yelled, "Hey!" before turning to me with a smile. "We'll miss you Sakura-chan! Don't be gone long and tell Gaara I say hi!" I couldn't help but laugh at Naruto and his lack of respect for authority. It would get him in trouble some day.

Kakashi waved and peeked out from behind his Icha-Icha Paradise. "Ja Sakura, have fun in Suna and pick up the Dirty Desert: Special Edition Icha-Icha Paradise novel!" I glared incredulously at the silver haired ninja before scolding him for his perverted book obsession and how it was unhealthy, especially at his age, to be reading those, "Damn _nasty _books!"

Finally, Sasuke nodded to me before saying, "Hn. Don't annoy the Kazekage into breaking out alliance." He smirked when he spoke, the only real sign he was joking. Over time Sasuke had learned to be a better friend to his teamates and while it mostly consisted of teasing, he and I were rather close.

"Only if you don't brood the whole time I'm gone."

Naruto burst out laughing when he heard that and while clutching his stomach he pointed at Sasuke and shouted, "Teme's gonna miss you so much! I bet he'll go around being a moody bastard again!" Sasuke turned to Naruto with a death glare and yanked out a kunai.

"Do you want to fight, Uzimaki?" Naruto rose his fist before shouting his usual 'Believe it!' and the two took off towards the training grounds. I simply sighed, waved to my remaining departure party, and walked out the gates to begin what would become the most important mission of my life.


	6. Formal Greeting

**A/N: **Hello my amazing readers! (I love that I actually have those!) Thanks for the support and enjoy the chapter!

She wiped sweat from her brow as she ran across the open sun, Suna having been in sight for almost an hour. She was closing in on the entrance and was extremely glad after three long days of travel. When she finally reached the gates she greeted the guards with pleasantries before stating my name and business. One immediately took off in search of Gaa- the Kazekage and the other led me into the village towards the Kazekage tower.

The guard, a jounin level blonde man who was chatty and pretty friendly, was pointing out different things in the shopping district. Suddenly a rush of air brushed across their skin quickly caught my attention and she turned to face forward in the suddenly silent district. With his arms crossed and gourd strapped to his back Gaara looked almost the same as five years before with the exception of muscles added in all the right places and him being taller. His eyes still looked the same, hard and flickering with cautious doubt. She smiled at him before bowing.

"Thank you for having me Kazekage-sama." She greeted formally, but wanted nothing more than to run up to him and pull him into a hug. The dark bags under his eyes only made the impulse increase as she studied him.

"Suna thanks you for your service, Haruno-san." She stiffened and blinked at his words, somewhat offended by his overly polite way of addressing her. Of course she was required to call him by his title, but if he spoke to her informally it would give her the right to speak to him as a friend. Her posture became even stiffer when she noticed him closely looking her over, meticulously studying her up and down. It made her feel like she was being judged to see if she was worthy of helping his medics.

"May I take a look at the hospital and see where your medics' skills are at right now?" She practically growled, annoyed with Gaara being so formal and just plain _rude_. He seemed to be pulled out of thought when she spoke because he started before turning his gaze to look right into her eyes, his eyes giving her goose bumps, and he spoke.

"I apologize, but what did you say?"

"Can I see your hospital?" she snapped, her arms finding their way to cross in front of her chest to almost mirror his posture subconsciously. He nodded before waving forward the guard that had gone to fetch him when she'd arrived.

"Jake," and then he looked at the guard beside her, "Nico, please escort Miss Haruno to the hospital." Then, addressing her, "I am needed back at my office so if you need me please go there. You will be residing at the Kazekage home so have Nico or Jake take you home."

She openly glared at him before dryly replying, "Whatever you say, **Kazekage-sama**."

"I'll take your bag," Jake offered and she removed her bag and pouch before handing them to the guard.

She turned and stormed away from the red head towards where the map of Suna she'd gotten from Tsunade placed the hospital. Gaara looked after her, his face taking on an attempted expression of bewilderment before he asked, "What is her problem?"

~.~.~.S~.A~.K~.U~.R~.A~.~.~.

I entered the hospital, but not without making sure to slam the door behind me. When I walked forward to the front desk I found a brunette girl looking to be in her early twenties chatting away on the phone. At first Sakura's anger was soothed by the sight of the girl talking quickly and jotting down notes, but her anger returned ten-fold when she heard that the girl was talking to a man and saw the writing was a club name along with a phone number.

"What the hell are you doing?" The girl was obviously startled and jumped in her seat, turning her gaze on the pink haired medic.

The brunette's nose scrunched up and she said a quick "Hold on" into the phone before turning to Sakura with a glare. "What do you want?" Sakura blinked, her mind going wild with that phrase.

_What do I want? What do I _**_want_**_? What do I _**_WANT_**_? I _**_WANT _**_you to get off the damn phone with your boyfriend or whatever and start acting like a real secretary!_ "I want you out. Gone. Fired. Bon voyage!" That was when it was the girl's turn to blink.

"Funny, but you're not my boss." In came walking an older white haired woman who looked Sakura over.

"Sakura Haruno?"

"Yes."

"Then she is your boss, honey, so clean out your desk and get going." The brunette, as well as Sakura, was shocked and stared at the elderly woman. "You heard me; Kazekage-sama has put Miss Haruno in charge here at the hospital. Anything she says, goes. You have been released as of-" The woman paused to glance at her watch before announcing, "-10:34 A.M. You have four hours to get all your stuff so be out by 2:34 this afternoon. Good day." She then turned to Sakura with a friendly smile and greeted, "I've heard such great things about you Miss Haruno. Please follow me and I'll give you a tour of the Suna Hospital." She glanced behind Sakura and called, "Nico and Jake, only one of you needs to remain to walk Miss Haruno home later since she'll be here while."

With that the adventure through the winding and familiar feeling from the resemblance to the Konoha Hospital began. I met several patients, saw the different wards, and took an extra long tour of the ICU where I spent most my time at home. There were, as usual, several extremely depressing stories but I refused to see them as hopeless cases. There is always something more you can do. I did meet a few patients I was certain I would be able to cure with a few treatments such as an elderly man with nerve damage in his left arm that none of the doctors could fix. I would just mend the pinched part of the nerve and feeling as well as control would return to the arm gradually.

I was deep in thought about the specific method I'd use on the old man, putting the nerves together and then healing or wrapping them around each other and then healing when I heard my name. I looked up to see Nico and realized in my distracted zone I'd not realized we were heading back to the entrance. "Alright Miss Haruno, have a lovely evening and we will be seeing you here bright and early tomorrow!" I waved good bye to the woman, having later in our tour learned her name was Elizabeth but she preferred to be called Ellie or Eliza.

Nico greeted me with a smiled and dove into questioning me. "So why are you such a well known medic?"

"I trained under Tsunade-sama, one of the sannin. She has extraordinary medical skills so I learned from the best." I blushed slightly under his sort-of compliment. With an unemotional Uchiha, jerkish and still learning the definition of emotions artist, and a hyper and hardly romantic blond compliments didn't come my way often with the exception of Lee's.

"So basically I'm escorting a gorgeous, exotic, and skilled young woman who has amazing strength while still looking delicate?" He smiled as he spoke and I had to avert my gaze as warm enveloped my cheeks.

I managed to mumble through my embarrassment, "Someone did their research, but I'm not that great. I do have 'inhuman', according to my friends, strength, medical skills, and weird colored hair that is pink but they aren't that special or exotic or gorgeous." By that point we had reached the front of the Kazekage mansion and Rico stopped walking.

"Well Miss Not-Special-Not-Exotic-Not-Gorgeous-Haruno, I hope to see you again soon. Later." He then turned and walked away, leaving me to let out a whoosh of breath and try to control the blazing embarrassment obvious on my cheeks.

"Didn't he seem overly friendly?" I screeched and whipped around to find Gaara standing in the doorway leaning against one side of the doorframe with his palm pressed against the other side giving me time to see his muscled arm. I shook myself from my daze and glared at the red head.

"He was just being nice. At least some people understand how that works." I moved towards him and ducked under his arm as I walked into the house. He stared after me with a blank expression and I just stood in the lobby kind of area of the house with my arms crossed feeling vulnerable in the strange place. I glanced around, subconsciously favoring my right leg as I put more pressure on it slipping into a tense standing posture.

"Would you like dinner?"

"Yes."

And we were off; walking towards what I presumed was the kitchen in a silence that made me want to yank my hair out. _Where is the Gaara from five years ago, the one that cared about me?_


	7. Mending Anger

******A/N:** Short, but sweet! I think, my idea of cute is different than other people's so, oh well! Enjoy!

Things were strained between us, that I could tell, but I couldn't pinpoint _why_. She was tense and rather uncomfortable looking as we made our way to the kitchen and it bothered that she couldn't be happy when she was with me. _Stop it Gaara. Your heart will hurt again if you try to think about her like that_, I reminded myself. Ever since I'd returned to Suna I'd thought of her, almost day and night. The fact that she didn't fear me, the idea that she-at least used to- care about me, and the fact that it was Sakura Haruno that felt and didn't feel those things about me. I'd often found my heart hurting when I'd thought of her and I couldn't decipher why.

When Sakura made her way towards the fridge I raised an eyebrow and cleared my throat making her turn towards me. "We have a chef. He seems to have gone home, but I can call him back." I walked towards the phone located on the island in the center of the kitchen but Sakura stepped in my path.

"You will do no such thing!" she exclaimed, hands planted firmly on her hips as she gave me a 'challenge-me-if-you-dare' look. I shrugged and she turned away from me before going back to the fridge. She pulled open the freezer door and took out frozen beans followed by frozen shrimp, frozen baby corns, and frozen mushrooms. She then turned and went to the door less pantry next to the fridge and returned with vegetable oil. _She looks like she does this every da-oh. _That was when I realized Sakura probably did cook for herself every day.

That stirred something in me and suddenly an image of her at the stove with a red haired little boy clinging to her leg flashed through my mine. It made my heart ache and gripped the cloth over my chest. That girl did something to me and I couldn't figure it out. She poured all the frozen foods along with the vegetable oil into a pan and set it on the stove, lighting it. She grabbed a wooden spoon from the cup of kitchen utensils next to the stove and began stirring the pan's contents, humming softly. She paused in her actions only to go back to the pantry to retrieve several sauces and spices he couldn't identify.

She then sifted and flipped around the food before dumping it on two plates and pushing one towards me. I cautiously took a bite and was pleased to find it tasted good. It was slightly sweet, a flavor I usually despised, but it tasted good in whatever Sakura had made.

"Thank you for the diner, Haruno-san," I told her and she glanced over at me.

"It pisses me off when you talk to me so formally," she replied, but instead of hearing anger like she said she had, I heard hurt in her voice.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd want to be spoken to any other way."

"We're friends. You saved my life from the explosion in the arena and got me to a hospital when Sasuke injured me. I prevented Shukaku from taking you over as well as calmed you down. I'd say we've done quite a bit for each other," she pointed out and I couldn't help but to agree.

"How do you know about Shukaku?" I demanded, not liking she knew about the worst part of me.

"In case you've forgotten, Naruto is also a demon host so I did research on them and learned you are the host of Shukaku." I felt the demon stirring at the mention of it and sure enough his voice invaded my thoughts, **_So the pink haired one is back? Interesting._**

I ignored him and trying to avert our conversation from my demon I asked, "So would you prefer if I called you by your first name?"

"Yes. Just call me Sakura."

"Then as long as we aren't in front of any elders or officials, I'd like you to call me Gaara." Sakura stuck out her hand to me and slowly I placed my hand in hers. She then shook my hand and gave me a smile that shot warmth through my body. "How was the hospital today?"

"Well, I fired my first person. The girl at the front desk was talking with her friends instead of actually working!" Sakura sounded astounded by the receptionist's actions and I couldn't help but let the edges of my mouth turn upwards at the somewhat innocent views.

"Not everyone is as dedicated to helping people as you are." I pointed out turning back to my meal and taking another bite. She shrugged and also resumed eating, looking perplexed.

"I know that, but why go into the medical field then? It just bothers me! What if someone was hurt and tried to call the hospital, but the line was busy because she was talking to her boyfriend?" How worked up Sakura got about things she was passionate about was something I hadn't seen in out time together when we were younger, but I liked that she now had confidence and strong beliefs. Being indecisive and constantly fearful of failure wasn't a good look on her.

We finished our dinner and Sakura washed their plates, something I presumed she also did often at how quickly she performed the task. When she had finished drying them she placed them back in the cupboards and I led her to her room. When we arrived, the room being coincidently across from mine, something my sister who had always teased me for my interactions with Sakura, probably had something to do with.

I opened the door and they walked inside, the room having a tan and green color scheme. There was a canopy bed in the center of the back wall with light wood colored nightstands on either side. On the right wall was a full length mirror and a dresser with the same color wood as the bed and nightstands and matching leaf pattern lamps on each nightstand. There were windows off to the side of both nightstands letting in some nice natural light with the addition of a ceiling fan in the center of the ceiling. On the left wall was the door that led into what Temari described as a 'tiny' twelve foot by twelve foot walk in closet and the door that led into the bathroom that had a soaking tub, shower, and long counter with plenty of cabinetry below.

This was my favorite of the guest rooms because of the simple design as well as the fact that it was across from me and Sakura was staying in it. The last part was a more recent reason to like it, but a reason none the less.

"Thank you, _Gaara_, for inviting me here and I hope I'll be able to help your medics."

"No, thank you, _Sakura_. Our medics are now learning from the best." With that comment I turned and fled back to my room, heat radiating through my body in a way I couldn't understand.


	8. Klutzy Kunoichi

**A/N:** Kind of filler, but I love fluff!

I awoke to yelling and sat up quickly, not able to understand what Temari was screeching. I dropped myself off my bed and sprawled out in a crouch on the floor, my ninja instincts kicking in. As I slowly crawled across the floor I heard the screams take a more shrill tone and ignored my natural instinct to hide, snatching a kunai up off the right nightstand before sprinting towards the door and yanking it open. I then flew down the hallway, the carpet helping quiet my bare feet slapping against the floor. When I reached the stairs I took them four at a time, risking slipping down the tile steps. I faltered and my feet slipped forward out from under me, landing on my hip with a hiss of pain and hitting my mouth on one of the higher steps and growl of annoyance.

I picked myself up before continuing my run down the steps, getting concerned with how shrill the screams were because they were impossible to understand. When I finally neared the kitchen, where the sound was originating from, I paused to take a breath before diving into the kitchen. I used the sound of where Temari was to make sure it wasn't Temari's neck I pressed my kunai to, just the person nearest to the person's hand flew up and punched me in the left eye, causing me to let out a yelp and falter backwards.

"Sakura?" Temari suddenly asked, stopping her screeching.

"Temari, go get Gaara, I've got this." I squeezing my eyes shut in an attempt to ease the pain in my eye and pressed my unused hand over the one that got hit.

I then lifted my kunai and slashed out to hear, "Hey, watch where you're swinging that thing!" I stopped immediately and opened my eyes, painfully, to see Kankuro staring at me with wide eyes and his palms up in front of his face while he leaned away from me.

"Kankuro?" I murmured, glancing at Temari in confusion. "If it's just you guys what was all that screaming about, Temari? I thought someone was attacking you."

Temari laughed before announcing, "Kankuro made fun of my cooking." I glared at her as best I could but with my injured eye still watering and covered and my hip aching, I wasn't really up for it.

When I heard footsteps behind me I whirled around with my kunai up and ready to attack. Gaara grabbed it and stared at me, looking me up in down in a manner that made me squirm internally. He paused on my face, specifically my lips. He leaned in closer and my heart jumped in my chest, _Is he going to kiss me? _I wondered and my good eye widened. Then, a felt a rush of disappointment when he raised a hand and brushed his fingers across my lips causing me to wince.

"You're bleeding." I hadn't even realized I'd split my lip in the stairs and it made me attempt at another glare at Temari who sheepishly waved to me. "Sit down on the counter. At first I just blankly stared at him dumbly, confused. "I'm going to clean you up. Sit down on the counter while I get the medical kit." I mouthed and 'o' before turning and walking over to the counter. With one hand occupied she was unbalanced when she lifted herself and cringed as her hip bumped the counter. Gaara stared at her before dryly asking, "Where aren't you injured?"

She shrugged and he left the room to get the first aid kit. At that time Kankuro, gaining back some color, began apologizing. "I'm so sorry Sakura, but I freaked out when you pressed the kunai to my neck so I just swung and-"

"-hit me in the eye, I know. It was my fault. I should have known Temari would be screaming about something stupid, not her impending doom." Temari yelled in protest but Kankuro just smiled at her and then announced he had to leave to let the elders Gaara would be a little late. Sakura laughed when he walked off, still trying to comprehend how she had ended up on the Kaze-_Gaara_'s kitchen counter with a split lip, bruised hip, and soon to be black eye.

Gaara interrupted her thoughts when he returned with the first aid kit, placing it on the counter beside her and opening it. He then moved towards me with a gauze pad and I managed to suppress a wince this time as he pressed the cloth to my still bleeding lip. "How did you manage to become injured so early in the morning?" I glanced at the clock to realize it was only seven before letting out a frustration groan.

"Temari was screeching like a banshee so I thought the house was under attack or something. I have carpet stairs at home with much more traction so on the way down your damn tile stairs I slipped and hit my hip and lip. Then I get downstairs and was punched in the eye after I accidentally put a kunai to Kankuro's neck." The red head was staring at me with an odd expression by the time I'd finished my story.

"You're clumsy," he observed before grabbing my hand and replacing his hand pressing the gauze to my mouth with my own. He then turned to the medical bag and dug around before pulling out two of those shake-and-instant-cold icepacks. He shook the first one before pressing it to my eye. When he did the second one he placed it very gently on my eye and leaned in. It made my cheeks turn scarlet red and he noticed. At first I thought he knew I was embarrassed by our closeness but then he asked, "Are you sick too?"

I rolled my eyes at him but winced, causing him to make the pressure on my eye lighter. After several minutes of just staring at each other in an actually comfortable silence, Gaara's face dropped into a scowl and he proclaimed, "Everyone is going to think I try to murder my guests."

I laughed. Who wouldn't at something so ridiculous? "I'll make sure to set everyone straight that I'm just a ridiculous klutz," I promised, even raising my right hand up dramatically. He smirked at me before shaking his head. "Seriously though, I need to get going."

"Aren't you going to heal yourself?" he asked and I shook my head while pulling the icepack off my hip and gently pushing his hand holding the icepack to my eye.

"If there is one thing I've learned in my time working at the hospital, it's that you never waste chakra if you're on call. I'll heal myself if I have extra chakra after my shift." Gaara felt unease about that, but figured Sakura knew what she was doing-being a very well known medic after all-so he let it be. I then glanced around the kitchen, sighing at the icepacks. "I'm so clumsy."

"No, Temari just overreacts to everything," Gaara corrected and I cracked a grin at the truth in his words. I walked past him and headed towards the front door, surprised to find Gaara walking alongside me. "You don't have to walk me to work," I told him and he looked at me with a confused expression.

"I've got to go to work too," he reminded me and I felt embarrassed for assuming he was coming for me. We exited the house together and made our way down the street together, silence making things tense. When he finally broke it only a block from the hospital I was surprised and blinked. "H-Sakura, are things...are we...is the friendship between us in good condition?"

He said in his Gaara way that made me smile, looking at the red head with a broad smile that stretched across my face. "Gaara, things will be alright as long as you call me Sakura and we get to hang out."


	9. Perversion is in the Genes

**A/N: **It's been a bit since I updated, but here is another chapter. Enjoy!

When I arrived at the hospital, I was grabbed by Eliza who briefed me as we made our way to one of the surgery rooms. "A young boy's genin team was sent out to retrieve a lost cat. They ventured out into the desert without their sensei and were stranded, just rescued today. His system are shutting down from malnutrition and his body isn't absorbing nutrients we're giving him so you're going to have to kick start his organs and mend his broken wrist he received in a fall. His teammates aren't as severe and are being treated seperately." I rushed into the room, changing into my scrubs and gloves.

First, I started my mending the damage to his heart and lungs before moving on to heal his other organs. Once they were in the best shape I could make them, I started transferring nutrients into his body by grinding them up into a powder and using the same method I used to pull poison out to put the nutrients in. Soon enough he was breathing, though shallowly, and his heart rate was almost normal. When I got there I healed his wrist before hooking him up to an IV to continue to bring a steady stream of water and nutrients into his body.

As I exited his room, exhausted and slightly dizzy, I glanced at the clock to notice it was already six in the afternoon and I'd spent all day repairing the boy back to a stable level. As I stumbled down the hallway, my limbs heavy from chakra depletion, Eliza caught up to me. "Miss Haruno, I meant to ask this morning but there wasn't time with the young boy being so badly off. Why do you have a black eye and split lip?"

I blinked, trying to remember why I did have those injuries. "Oh, I fell down the stairs this morning," I mumbled, wanting to just go home and sleep. She stared at me concerned for several moments and looked like she wanted to say something when suddenly a man stepped into view. He wore a doctor's coat and spoke to Eliza, though what he said I couldn't tell. She said something about being needed in some ward and then was gone, leaving me to fall against the wall as things grew dimmer and dimmer.

I heard voices, but they all sounded underwater and that was when I realized I was going to pass out. It wasn't foreign to me, I'd passed out from chakra depletion plenty of times after healing someone, but usually I had other nurses helping me with procedures so it didn't happen so easily or I at least had an office to reture to. My first thought was, _Get to the locker rooms to lie down_, but then I realized I had no idea where those were. I used a shaky and heavy hand to go into my pocket to pull out my phone.

I dialed Temari's number and it rang several times, each time it did I winced because of the obnoxious sound. When she finally picked up with a greeting of hello, I had to pause to catch my breath before I could speak. "Temari...I'm at the, " I had to pause to think about where I was before I continued, "hospital and I'm really tired. Could you come get me?" Talking was such a nuisance and I heard Temari reply but it didn't register.

That was when the white tiles flew up and hit me in the face.

~.T~.E~.M~.A~.R~.I~.

As soon as Sakura called her Temari excused herself from the lunch she'd been having with one of the Suna businessmen about gaining funding to start a digging project. She practically ran to the hospital, attempting to restrict herself to a fast-walk so she wouldn't knock anyone over. When she finally got there she ran to the front desk and asked where she could find Doctor Haruno. The secretary had told her that Sakura had done a surgery and would probably be found near surgery room number three. Temari had jogged down the hallways, all the consequences of letting a visiting doctor from the village they were forming an alliance with exhaust herself on her first day running through her mind.

Even worse was when she spotted a crowd and after shoving throughout it she found a nurse checking and trying to wake a passed out Sakura who was sprawled on the floor. "I have her," Temari announced before lifting Sakura up and placing the girl's arm around her shoulder. She then worked on carrying her out of the hospital, ignoring the doctors who asked to let Sakura stay with them, before heading back to the Kazekage mansion.

The pink haired woman was asleep and completely dead weight on her shoulder. Though she wasn't heavy, the woman wasn't light either with her muscles earned from training with her insane strength. Temari stumbled slightly and gritted her teeth, frustration rolling off her in waves at the current predicament. If only the stubborn Konoichi had called her and told her she needed to be picked up earlier or told someone she was dizzy or...or.. Did _something_! She finally reached the house's front door and somehow managed to unlock and open the door without dropping the girl, while she was tempted.

She shuffled inside the mansion and kicked the door closed behind her, shouting for Kankuro. Moments later, his makeup smudged slightly and hair all over the place, Kankuro showed up in the entryway wearing boxers and a white wife-beater. "What did you do to Sakura?" Kankuro yelled, jumping away from his angry looking sister.

"You moron! She passed out at the hospital from chakra depletion! Help me get her upstairs into her bed." Kankuro eyed her warily for a moment before he came up to her and gathered Sakura in his arms bridal style. Temari led the way and he trailed behind her as she headed up to Sakura's room, opening the door for him before grumbling something about coffee and disappearing.

Meanwhile, Kankuro laid Sakura down in her bed and had to kneel on the edge of the bed to reach over her and grab the covers on her other side to pull them up over her. He realized she'd be uncomfortable if she slept in her scrubs so her pulls off her pants by reaching up under the blankets on the end of the bed and sliding her pants off. He then peeled back the covers to just above her breasts and pulled off her top leaving her in her bra and panties. He ended up leaning over her and was practically hovering over her body to return the covers to their earlier position when a cold voice asked, "What the hell are you doing?" At first, Kankuro froze in terror. Then he slowly turned his head to see Gaara standing at the side of Sakura's bed with his arms crossed and eyes blazing with fury.

"H-hey Gaara! My favorite lil' bro! You see Sakura-"

Temari didn't even look up when she heard a shrill and girlish scream from the second floor of the house, used to have hearing Kankuro freak out about stupid things like his makeup being messed up. _That's probably his issue_, Temari decided, recalling his makeup being messed up.

Gaara had wrapped his brother in a sand coffin, trying to control himself so he didn't kill the idiot, while staring at the unconscious Sakura. "I get a call from the hospital saying Temari had just been by to pick Sakura up. Then I come home to find you attempting to take advantage of a nearly naked Sakura. What. Is. Going. **On**?"

"She passed out at the hospital from chakra exhaustion and Temari couldn't carry her anymore! I was taking off her surgery scrubs, but I didn't look!" Kankuro blurted and Gaara blinked, forcing the sand to release the brown haired boy who dropped to the floor and rubbed his arms from the irritation the sand had left behind. "Actually thinks I'm that much of a pervert..." Kankuro grumbled, walking out of the room after glaring at Gaara.

With all the yelling Sakura had been stirred from her sleep and opened her eyes to find a furious looking Gaara standing beside her bed. His jaw was clenched and arms tightly crossed in a manner that suggested had they not been crossed he, he would be hitting something.

"Gaara?" she called quietly, her voice slightly raspy. His gaze immedialty darted towards her and he stared at her for several moments.

"Why didn't you have one of the doctors or nurses help you if you felt faint?" He spoke to her in a condescending voice like the idea was obvious and she was a complete idiot for not knowing it.

"I was dizzy and disoriented. In Konoha I'd just go back to my office and pass out at my desk for a few hours." Gaara's eyes widened at her admission and it quickly turned to a look of disgust.

"A Hokage that is supposedly a great medical nin lets you work your body so hard you pass out all the time?" Sakura's temper was flared when he practically insulted her master and was quick to jump to her defense.

"Shishiou doesn't know I do that, so don't blame her!" While she was proud of herself for standing up for her master, she realized she'd made a mistake when Gaara's gaze became furious.

"You're telling me you don't tell anyone and just go back to your office and pass out? Are you _trying_ to put yourself in a coma?" Him lecturing her on her health when she was a medic was just too much and Sakura shoved away the covers and stood up, throwing her pointer finger in Gaara's chest.

"You listen here! I know all the risks of my choices and I take them because people need me! Do you have any idea how many lives I've saved over the years? I couldn't have done that if I didn't push myself as hard as I could! One drop of chakra can be replenished in minutes for me, but for my patients that drop can be the difference between life and death!" She ground her finger harder into his chest with every sentence and she felt she'd won when she noticed his eyes were huge and his mouth was parted slightly, his arms having dropped to his sides.

"Erm...Miss Ha-Sakura. I would like to suggest you return to the shelter of your bed because you are not currently decent," Gaara told her in a tight voice. She was confused momentarily and looked down, screeching at her clothing-or lack of.

"You-You...Pervert!"


	10. Awaken His Feelings

**A/N: **Sorry about the POV jumping, I do that all the time and don't even notice it! For those who pointed it out in reviews, if you could point out where I'm doing it I'd be more than happy to fix the errors and if you don't want to go back and look for them, I would appreciate it if you point out future mistakes I'm sure I'll make. Enjoy my lovely readers!

Gaara was not pleased when he was thrown out of the guest bedroom in his own house by his guest. Sure he'd seen her dressed rather scantily and she hadn't known Kankuro had undressed her, the idiot having left, so he really couldn't blame her for being suspicious. But _still_! He absently swiped a hand across his aching forehead where she'd had the gall to punch him before throwing him out.

He had to admit, he hadn't been disappointed when he saw her dressed in so little, she seemed to be a well-developed wo-What was he thinking? This was his political guest from Konoha who was training his medics, not here to service him. He shook his head as he stalked off towards the kitchen to get an ice pack for his head. He had no idea how she'd gotten through his sand shield, but it might have had something to do with the monster strength Naruto always whined about her using on him in his letters.

When he arrived in the kitchen he found Temari sipping a cup of coffee and she looked up when he walked in. She nearly spat out the coffee in her mouth when she spotted the swollen red spot on his forehead. "Gaara, did-did...Sakura hit you?" She laughed as she asked him that, setting her coffee down and turning to face him.

"You will say nothing," he hissed as he walked over to the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen peas to press against his aching forehead. Temari nodded, pressing her hands over her mouth to cover her giggles. Finally, when she regained her composure, she spoke.

"Gaara, how badly did you injure Sakura?" Temari sighed, annoyed with the political mess she'd had to fix.

"Injure? I didn't harm her if you are being so bold as to accuse me of that," Gaara grumbled. He took a seat on one of the seats at the island bar. He was about to berate his sister for even suggesting he would lay a hand on Sakura when the sound of feet against the stairs interrupted him. Sakura rushed into the kitchen dressed in a long, red bathrobe and looked around momentarily before spotting him and sighing while placing a hand over her heart.

"I'm so glad I found you Gaara!" she exclaimed as she ran around the counter and brushed aside his hand holding the ice pack from his swollen head. As a natural reaction his sand shot up and gripped her wrist that's hand was hovering over his injured head. "Gaara, let me heal you!" He slowly forced the sand to recede and she began babbling out an apology. "Kankuro came to my room after you left and explained what had happened. Of course I hit that idiot for undressing me without permission, but then I realized I had hit you and it wasn't your fault and I felt guilty so I ran down here to heal you because Naruto always says my hits hurt and-"

Gaara cut her off. "Sakura, it's alright. You had every right to presume I had dirty intentions when you woke up dressed in only your undergarments with me by your bedside. Though I do wish you hadn't hit me." He winced when she placed her hand against the swollen area, having his sand shift away so his real skin was revealed. When she gasped, he realized that it had been right over the spot of his Kanji she had hit him.

He tried to move backwards away from her, but she braced her other hand against the back of his neck and leaned closer making him very away of how little space between them there was. Her lips were hovering in front of his, parted slightly in what appeared to be surprise and interest. It was hard for him to tell since he was so focused on her soft looking lips.

He was jerked back to reality when she spoke, suddenly very, _very _aware of how wrong of him it was to be so interested in her and to get these odd feelings. Somehow he knew he wasn't supposed to have them for the pink haired Konoichi. "Gaara, is this a scar?" He didn't answer so she set to work. First she gently healed the swelling of his head before brushing her fingers over the mark making him want to groan for some reason. "Gaara, was the kanji for _love _carved into your forehead?"

Suddenly, he reached up and tangled his fingers with hers and brought their joined hands down to hover between their chests. "My uncle did that." He had absolutely no idea why speaking about such a dark part of his childhood came easily when talking to her. Something about her made Shukaku settle in his head, no longer clawing at his mind at odd hours in the day and whispering cruel deeds in his ears. In fact, he'd found that Shukaku had been mostly silent since Sakura had arrived.

"That's horrible..." she whispered and he nearly panicked when he saw tears gather in her eyes. On instinct alone he jerked their joined hands to his chest and pressed them over the place where his heart rested. She sniffled while staring at their hands and then lifted her gaze to stare into his eyes. "It was because of Shukaku, right?"

"Yes." His answer was calm, no anger or fear raging through his veins like there usually was whenever his past came up. It only made him more intrigued by Sakura.

"People used to hit Naruto, adults, when he was a child. I was too young to understand the cruelty, but as we've gotten older I've gotten Naruto to tell me about some of the worse parts of his younger life. You would think adults would have enough maturity to understand it wasn't Naruto's fault the Kyubi is in him and that he probably saved their damn lives by harboring that creature, but instead they attack him and treat him like a monster." She was sobbing by the time she finished speaking and surprised Gaara by leaning forward and burying her head in the crook between his neck and shoulder, their hands still clasped between them.

"It makes me so sad to know another was treated as poorly if not worse than Naruto. When will people learn, you were forced to give up a normal life just to harbor a monster inside you, but that doesn't make you a monster?" Gaara blinked, the girl leaning against him continuing to surprise him every time he thought he knew what to expect from her. He cautiously lifted his free arm and ever so softly wrapped it around her waist to hold her against him. She was so warm and his heart was beating so fast that the whole ordeal felt unreal.

"Didn't peg you for a drama queen, Sakura." Oh yeah, Temari was still in the kitchen. Gaara threw her a glare over his shoulder and Sakura lifted her head to send Temari a watery smile.

"Sorry, I just find people's lack of decency horrible." Gaara, as he'd seen mothers do to children who fell at the playground or came home injured from a day of adventuring, began to rub slow circles on Sakura's back.

Temari seemed to find this quite amusing because she smirked and made her way out of the room, but not before whispering in Gaara's ear on the way past, "We need to talk." That sentence left him curious and his mind was filled with questions about what Temari wanted to talk about as Sakura placed her head back in the crook between his shoulder and neck, sighing. Her breath ghosting over his skin sent a shiver down his spine and he had to refrain from groaning. He didn't know what it was, but she was affecting him in a way he'd never experienced before and while it concerned him, he also enjoyed it.


	11. Letter of Warning

**A/N: **I'm sad now. I went and looked at my story stats for this story and saw that once I did the time skip, I lost several hundred visitors! That makes me sad, because I asked what people wanted! Well, thanks you guys who are reading this for continuing to read, you are all freaking amazing! Please excuse the slow update; I thought I'd already updated this. (I'm an airhead, sorry!)

**EDIT (6.10.12.): I though I'd fixed the Sasuke error, but I guess something got screwed up and it didn't change. Also, I went back and edited Sakura's part a little after Freud's review since I realized Freud was right, I'd rushed Sakura's feelings.**

Gaara let out a frustrated sigh as he continued to sign different document after document. It had been a long day of work and he just wanted to get home, possibly catch a glimpse of a pink haired woman...

His thoughts were interrupted when a messenger ran into his office, panting and sweat drenched. "Kazekage-sama! We have an urgent notice from Konoha!" Urgent and Konoha did not belong in the same sentence in Gaara's mind so he got to his feet, moving around his desk and snatching the scroll from the exhausted man's hands. He ripped the seal off the scroll and yanked it open, his eyes running over the message quickly.

_Dear Kazekage-sama,_

_Itachi Uchiha, a well known Konoha missing-nin, was recently apprehended when he broke into Sakura Haruno's home. When questioned on his motives, he told our ANBU, "I need her to continue the Uchiha line and I've heard she's gotten quite stronger." Less than a day later he escaped from our facilities and headed in the direction of Suna. I would like to ask you protect my apprentice since she is obviously his target. I feel it would be better for her to stay in Suna because he could easily obtain her if she attempted to return to Konoha with him going the same path. If you feel it is to unsafe for your village to keep her with you, I will understand, but know it will not put you in my good graces._

_Sincerely,_

_Tsunade_

It surprised him she'd signed her name, but it also told him the Hokage cared a great deal for her apprentice. He wouldn't send Sakura away, he'd never even thought of doing such a thing until Tsunade mentioned it in the letter, especially not until he worked out the odd reactions his body had to her. He stood and marched out of his office. He quickly went down to the first floor, telling Matsuri he'd be taking the rest of the day off, before leaving the building and heading towards the hospital.

Once he arrived he demanded Sakura's whereabouts and was told she was in a meeting and not to be disturbed. Not disturbed his ass. He found the conference room and shoved open the doors to find Sakura up at a whiteboard showing the rise in cures for something with some new drug, he could care less. He charged forward, grabbed her by the elbow, and dragged her out of the room into the hallway where he released her and cross him arms over his chest. When they stopped she looked flustered, confused, and even slightly.

"Gaara! I was doing an important presentation to get funding for a new medicine at the hospital that will-"

He cut her off, not in the mood to hear about what something could do for others, he was more concerned about what he could do for Sakura. "I received a message from your Hokage today," he stated, hoping the news would calm her down.

She didn't calm down or even attempt to relax, but she grew quiet and asked, "Please continue."

"Itachi was seen breaking into your house and escaped ANBU after admitting to be looking to continue the Uchiha line with you," he stated slowly so not to frazzle her. Instead, she seemed to relax after hearing the news.

"Is that all?" she asked and he blinked in surprise, staring at her wish a stunned expression. When he didn't say anything else she continued. "Gaara, I've known since the day Sasuke left that things would never be the same. I knew that I could never be truly through with the Uchihas after my involvement with Sasuke beacause Sasuke comes Itachi, another Uchiha looking to continue their clan. I've always known he wanted to continue the Uchiha clan and with the progress I've made, I realized there was a possibility he'd come after me." She simply shrugged as she spoke, not looking concerned in the least that a highly dangerous missing-nin was out to get her.

"Doesn't that concern you?" he asked incredulously, annoyance at her lack of response growing.

"Not really," she sighed, bringing a hand up to smooth her hair that had been mussed when he'd dragged her from her meeting.

"Well it does me!" he blurted, not filtering what he said before it came out of his mouth. _That _seemed to shock her because she froze and slowly turned her large, green doe eyes on him.

"Why?"

"Because I care about you! I may not understand everything, but I've figured that out!" The moment he'd finished his sentence he wanted to take the words back. Not because he didn't mean them, he really did care for Sakura and felt no denial at the notion, but because he'd just admitted to caring about **Sakura**. The apprentice of the Hokage, a renowned medic, a woman who didn't even live in his village, and a woman who would eventually be leaving.

"Gaara, can we please talk about this later? This meeting is important," she whispered and he stared at her for several seconds.

He grunted and then replied, "Fine," before stalking off away from her and nearly knocking over several nurses.

~.S~.A~.K~.U~.R~.A~.

Sakura felt a rush at happiness at him telling her he cared about her, but she couldn't quite pinpoint why. She had admittdely grown fond of the red haired man in their short time together, but never had a friend saying such a thing made her feel so...different. With friends she expected them to care about her and with having Naruto as well as Lee for friends, having them promise to sacrifice their lives for her she was hard to faze. That was why she couldn't understand what about Gaara's simple confession to caring about her made such a difference.

But she was in Suna to help their medics and was now being hunted by Itachi Uchiha, that was why she needed to stay away from Gaara and focus on work. She didn't have time to ponder her reactions around Gaara and it was better for her to stay at the hospital where there were always lots of people and she would be safer. When tears pricked her eyes she mentally scolded herself before pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes to make sure they stayed at bay. Once she was satisfied and didn't think she'd be breaking down any time soon, she turned and went back into the meeting room.

"As I was saying ladies and gentlemen..."

~.I~.T~.A~.C~.H~.I~.

I ran, sprinting through the forest with an arrogant smirk spread across my face. Sakura would be mine and neither Konoha nor Suna could stop me. I had grown far more powerful over the years and that Sasuke's hatred for me had grown weak Sakura was the perfect target. Not only would she be the perfect woman to carry the next Uchiha child, she would rekindle Sasuke's hatred for me. Continuing the Uchiha lineage was a goal I'd looked forward to for far too long, having to take precautions with every woman I'd spent the night with to make sure pregnancy did not happen. While other women made fine company during the night, Sakura was the only one I would ever allow to carry my children.

At first, I had been repulsed by the idea of ever touching the pink haired freak of nature, but after my departure I'd heard of her growing skills and returned to Konoha for a day to watch her. She'd work in the hospital letting me see her medic skills, sparred with Tsunade showing me her insane strength, and babysat for Kurenei which had been the final straw since I'd since how great with kids she was. Of course, she coddled them too much and I'd have to fix that, but other than that one flaw she was the perfect candidate.

He had a new goal, and nothing or no one would get in his way.


	12. Maybe a Little Bit

**A/N: **I'm back! I've work on this story and I'm working on my other stories, but I've been a bad author and let a plot bunny get the best of me. Thus, I've now started a completely new story, oops? So I'd like to hear from you guys in your reviews, what in a summary catches your eye?

_It was dark, so dark that Sakura couldn't see her hands if she held her arms out straight in front of her. She immediately began to panic, whirling around searching for some source of light, some way to figure out where she was. She started sprinting, running through the darkness in search of something other than the inky blackness that surrounded her._

_Without a warning a large flame burst forth in front of her, illuminating her features and nearly blinding her. From the force of the exploding fire she was thrown to the ground, lying on her back propped up on her elbows staring at the burning flame. Suddenly, Itachi stepped through the flame and she nearly screamed, trying to get to her feet but her limbs just wouldn't work._

_He closed in on her, his eyes beginning to spin and turn red as a sign she was going to be subjected to the deadly sharingan, when a wave of sand crashed down on the fire and extinguished it. She was plunged back into darkness and her eyes darted back and forth, searching for Itachi. He appeared in front of her quickly, his eyes glowing red, before something smashed him away from her with a mighty howl of anger._

_She looked around for her savior but was still unable to see, fear burning in her stomach. That was when, standing alone in the darkness, she felt a sharp stabbing pain in her side._

Sakura awoke with a cry, bolting up and out of bed, getting into her fighting stance. When she was met with silence and a dark empty bedroom, she sighed and changed her position to a standing one. She brought a hand up and pressed it against her forehead, tangling some of her fingers in her hair. The dream had felt so real and she couldn't shake the fear and feeling of impending doom.

When her bedroom door flew open to reveal Gaara with a frazzled expression and his sand rose to attack, she suddenly felt much safer. She dropped her hand away from her forehead and walked over to him as he glanced around, checking for the non-existent threat. When she finally stood in front of him she leaned forwards, resting her head against her chest and slowly snaking her slightly shaking arms around his waist.

"Maybe Itachi scares me a little bit."

~.G~.A~.A~.R~.A~.

**Mark her as yours, **Shukaku instructed as Gaara meditated, having pestered Gaara about Sakura nonstop since he'd began.

_I can't just mark her! Besides, I don't love her, _Gaara snapped at the demon. Having to listen to the creature talk for hours could drive any stable man mad.

**So you say, **Shukaku chuckled, showcasing his gleaming fangs.

_I have no romantic interest for Sakura and she has none for me, so there is no reason to try to create something that does not belong, _Gaara growled, his annoyance growing.

**I never mentioned Sakura nor did I say anything about something past simply marking her, **Shukaku cackled, his amusement obvious. Gaara was about to put the demon back in his place when a cry from across the hall brought him from his thoughts. He awoke from his meditation and leapt from his bed, sprinting across the room and pulling his door open and then Sakura's in a motion so fast it could have been one. Without knowing it, he had called forth his sand and it was raised to attack when he studied the room from her doorway.

He didn't see anything but continued to search for the threat, knowing Sakura was not one to be scared by nothing. He hadn't noticed her move towards him, but he was surprised when she rested her forehead against his chest and slid her shaking arms around his waist before admitting, "Maybe Itachi scares me a little bit."

He slowly calmed his sand and in turn wrapped his arms around her in comfort, his heart pounding in his chest as he realized he was holding Sakura against him in the middle of the night. The idea made a thrill run through his body and it took all his self control to stop himself from kissing her.

**So, now you are craving physical love from your mate? **Shukaku chuckled, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Gaara glared at Shukaku, but tried to focus on the moment before him.

"Sakura, it's okay to be scared. You've got a highly dangerous missing-nin, anyone would be scared," Gaara whispered to her hoping it would bring her comfort.

"Naruto wouldn't." That comment stunned Gaara and he tried to catch a glance of her eyes to see if she was serious when she said that. "I've always looked up to him because anything that threatens him he just takes on and wins against. Any trial or challenge you throw at him he can defeat. When I was younger I was jealous, but then I realized he worked hard to become like that and that he wasn't just some strong boy, he had feelings and life wasn't easy for him. After I realized that I stopped being jealous and started training and trying to becoming as strong as him, but in the end I'm just the same weak little girl I've always been."

The fact that she still saw herself as weak bothered Gaara and he decided then and there to prove her wrong. "Could a weak little girl save lives every day? Could a weak little girl destroy building with her bare hands? And that's just physical strength, you're emotionally strong too. You've been betrayed by your teammate, left behind by your friends, neglected by your teachers because those around you were born with strength, and you've survived watching people die around you every day." Sakura sniffled then and gave a soft laugh that brought a smile to Gaara's face.

"You know Gaara, we haven't known each other long, but you always make me feel better. I'm really happy I'm here." Hearing her say that made Gaara's heart skip a beat and his arms subconsciously tightened around her.

"I'm also glad you're here." he told her, but he didn't elaborate _why_ in fear of Sakura not sharing his feelings. Things remained like that, peaceful and silent, for several more minutes before Sakura disentangled herself from him and stepped back, brushing her hands along her eyes.

"Gaara, I know this is a lot to ask, but could I stay with you tonight. I have to work at the hospital tomorrow and I know I won't fall back asleep if I'm alone." Gaara nodded, warmth spreading through him in a rush.

~.S~.A~.K~.U~.R~.A~.

It was embarrassing to have to ask to have a sleeping companion, but her nightmare had left her slightly frazzled and she always slept without nightmares when with someone else. After asking she bit her lip, nervous of his response.

"That would be acceptable." He turned and headed back to his room with Sakura trailing behind him with a soft smile on her face. When they arrived at his room He climbed into his bed and she climbed in after him. She lied in front of him and was so busy worrying about accidentally rolling in her sleep and kicking him she almost didn't feel his arms softly slide around her to hold her. He then pulled her back slowly so she was in his arms lying back against his chest. "I hope this is alright, I thought it would help lessen your fear."

Sakura nodded, her smile growing a blush settling across her cheeks. She'd never before been held by a man before, as in just relaxing and embracing instead of a short hug, especially not in her sleep. At first, through the first half hour of lying in Gaara's arm, she was rather uncomfortable and tense. And then suddenly, she realized Gaara could protect her better than anyone. He might even be a better protector than Naruto since the blonde was a sucker for mercy and Gaara was merciless.

With that thought her eyes drifted closed in the early hours of the morning as she faded into a peaceful, and thankfully dreamless, sleep.


	13. Physical Love

**A/N: The new picture for this story was created by Th3Juic3 from DeviantART, check out Th3Juic3's profile here: th3juic3deviantartcom just add a period after the second 3 and the t of art. **

**Also, I hate this chapter I really, really hate it, but at the same time I feel like it's right. Anyways, don't kill me for it please and I'd love feedback. If enough people dislike it I'll change it since I also hate it. One last thing! I've been freaking out because after a review pointed out that an old plot issue was there I looked back and realized the chapter hadn't been replaced with the fixed version like I thought it had so now I'm going back and editing like crazy! If you see something off, let me know!**

A screech pulled Gaara from his meditation so immediately he pulled Sakura closer and leaned over her body protectively, planting his arm in front of her body on the bed. When giggles followed Gaara's eyes snapped up to spot Temari and Kankuro beside his bed staring at him and Sakura with a camera in Kankuro's hands. Sakura had awoken in the commotion and was pressed back against his chest, eyes wide. When she also spotted the brother-sister duo she screamed.

Gaara immediately moved into a sitting position and pulled Sakura with him before settling her between his legs and back against his chest on the tangled sheets. "It's just Kankuro and Temari, they won't hurt you." Sakura seemed to melt against him because her body became less tense and formed against his. He craned his neck down and pressed gentle kisses to the skin of her neck whispering, "You're safe, you're safe."

The siblings standing in the room at first stared in confusion, but then jumped back to reality and snapped a couple pictures before bolting from the room. They needed the head start to get away from Gaara. Gaara glared at the pair, but his fury immediately faded when he felt Sakura shift in his arms. Since it seemed to comfort her before, Gaara again began pressing light kisses on her neck.

When she calmed down several minutes later she dropped her head back against his chest to look up at him. "Gaara, why did you kiss me?" That was a question Gaara was unprepared for. He was ready to reassure her she was safe, tell her he'd protect her from Itachi with his life, but not at all ready to explain his romantic actions.

"It calmed you down," he answered after several moments of tense hesitation.

"But what gave you the idea to _kiss _me?"

"You aren't afraid when I touch you," Gaara hurriedly replied. Sakura seemed surprised by that and blinked several times while staring at his eyes before turning in his arms and pressing her hands against his chest. She pushed him backwards onto his back on the bed. She stared at him, lying there, for several moments before she crawled on top of him and leaned down to press a kiss to his lips gently that had the red head's heart going crazy. Then she pressed another kiss his lips, slipping her tongue in between his lips. Her eyes remained open while Gaara's eyelids fluttered closed.

She pushed her body closer to his and when Gaara felt a tightening below his stomach his eyes opened and the sight before him made his heart ache heavily. Sakura was just blankly staring at him as she pressed herself against him, her eyes seemed distant and it was like she wasn't even there anymore. Gaara quickly sat up, dropping Sakura down to straddle his lap. She blinked rapidly at the sudden movement and her eyes cleared as the Sakura he knew came back. She stared up at him with a hurt expression, the expression quickly morphing into a glare.

"What the hell! I saw it in you, you wanted me! Why'd you push me off?" she demanded, the hurt he knew she felt being channeled into anger. As he tried to grasp her wrists in his hands, trying to calm down the frazzled woman, she smacked his hands away. In turn she then tried to lash out with her fists at him and it was a struggle to dodge her dangerous punches.

"_Sakura! _That wasn't you, you completely zoned out!" That only seemed to make things worse because her attacks sped up and she threw herself off his lap to land on the floor. She then got up and dropped into her fighting stance, her glare now cold. "That wasn't you kissing me; I know it wasn't because you haven't shown any interest in me before so I know you wouldn't just decide to come onto me! You're not like that!"

That was when the tears began, forming in Sakura's cold eyes and dripping down her tense face. "You know **nothing **about me, got that?" her voice had gone deadly calm and Gaara wanted nothing more than to rewind to back when he'd woken up. He wouldn't have put her between his legs, wouldn't have been so close to her, wouldn't have kissed her. Well, probably not.

"Sakura, I don't want you for the physical things-"

"So I'm not good looking enough for you? Am I a _pathetic_, _weak_, and _useless _little girl to you like everyone else? What is there other than the physical things?" she screamed, her voice losing the deadly calm in a matter of seconds to become hysterical.

"There are feelings, personalities matter-" She cut him off again, obviously in no mood to listen.

"No one has ever _wanted _my feelings or had them for me! It's always physical, don't you get that?" Gaara wanted names, he wanted a list of every male or female who had ever lusted after her, wanted her physically to help put the idea in Sakura's head she was only physically useful. "Even as a shinobi, it's all about my strengths _physically_. My chakra attacks, and my medical skills, not the fact that I can survive death without wincing or my ability to care about every patient I meet. Everyone only cares about me for my physical abilities. _Why do you think you're any different?"_

Gaara wanted to tell her he understand problems with feelings, the way people lied about loving you and strung you along. The way people abandoned you and didn't love you like they should because you tried so hard, but he knew that wasn't going to diffuse the bomb Sakura had become. She was angry, immensely strong, and ready to attack anything without listening. "Sakura, you'll hurt yourself or someone else if you don't relax." Hopefully switching relax for calm down would have a better affect on Sakura than the same words had had on an angry Temari several weeks before.

Then it was like someone hit the off switch on Sakura. She moved from her fighting stance to a tense yet slumped standing stance. Her hand became firmly planted in her hair, gripping the strands in a painful looking action. She let out a low laugh, tears still making their way down her cheeks. "Gaara, do you know what it's like to know no one has ever loved you like you loved them? Have you ever put your everything into trying to make them happy and they left you behind?"

When Gaara didn't say anything Sakura's hand flew up to cover her mouth as a sob ripped its way up her throat and out her lips. She turned on her heel and left the room, leaving behind a confused and worried Gaara who immediately slammed his fist into the mattress. Instead of getting Sakura to understand his feelings that he was beginning to grasp as some sort of attraction that wasn't just physical, he'd managed to freak her out. She was scared and right now was the time where he needed to be closest to her to protect her.


	14. The Red and The Black

**A/N: **I apologize for the lack of updates; I got hit with a bunch of bad news and then spent a lot of time with friends to feel better. I'm okay, just family issues. I hope you remember this story because the worst thing for me is when I get a notice for an update on a story and I don't remember it and have to go back and re-read the whole thing. Pleas enjoy and I hope to get back to regular updates.

When Gaara had gathered himself and left the Kazekage mansion in search of the distraut Sakura, the last thing he expected to see was people running and screaming. He quickly lifted himself off the ground on a sand platform, heading towards the direction everyone was running from. The first three things that caught his eye were pink, black, and red. The pink was Sakura's hair as she quickly got civilians to safety while taking blows meant for the innocent people at times. The black and red were both from Akatsuki member Itachi Uchiha standing in the center of the shopping district. The black was from his Akatsuki cloak and his hair while the sources of the red were the clouds on his cloak and his spinning sharingan.

He was throwing weapons at civilians, looking bored at their lack of fighting. From protecting the civilians from the kunai, senbon, and other assorted weapons being thrown, Sakura had weapons imbedded in her body all over. It brought Shukaku to the surface of his mind screaming, **Kill that bastard! He dared to lay a hand on our mate! **_**Kill**__ him! _Gaara finished the thought, thinking alike with his demon in a rare moment of agreement. Gaara made his priorities first and threw a sand wall up in front of Sakura to shield her from weapons as the last of the civilians were taken to safety.

After that he used his sand wave to advance on the elder Uchiha, an animal-like growl slipping through his lips and shaking the windows of the surrounding buildings. When Itachi moved his gaze to Gaara, the small lifting of the edges of his lips was enough to send Gaara on the attack. Gaara first attempted a sand coffin, even getting the sand loosely around the Akatsuki member, but Itachi had disappeared from his earlier spot by the time Gaara had tightened the sand. It only added to his anger and he whipped his head around looking for Itachi. When he spotted him on the top of the building above where Sakura was rushing an infant inside, he became blinded by rage and Shukaku took over.

Gaara fell back and watched his body begin to transform into the sandy body of Shukaku. He had only reached the level where sand covered his body but he remained his regular size when Itachi attacked. Gaara was horrified when he recognized the hand seals for a water attack and Shukaku wasn't fast enough to move out of the way of the wave that came rushing towards him. As the water hit his sand and knocked him from his wave of sand that crumbled once wet, Gaara desperately glanced at Sakura. She was back outside after putting the infant in a safe place and she looked furious.

Gaara attempted to scream at her that no matter how strong she was, she was no match for Itachi Uchiha. His words were pointless, though, because she'd already launched herself at the man attacking with chakra filled punches and kicks. Gaara attempted to regain control of his body, but Shukaku wouldn't relinquish control back him and instead attempted to struggle to his feet with the wet sand dragging him down. Then, chunks of the sand began to fall away leaving vital points open on his stomach and face while the rest of the sand still held him down.

Itachi noticed this and broke off from Sakura, leaping down from the building and pulling his katana out. Itachi wasted no time in stabbing the weapon into Gaara's side and earning himself a screech of pain from Shukaku. Gaara was thankfully protected from the pain since he wasn't the one in control, but Shukaku began to panic and lashed out at Itachi and clawed at the blade in an attempt to remove the blade.

What occurred next sent Gaara into shock and even stopped Shukaku's panicked actions. Sakura appeared from seemingly nowhere and used a chakra punch to break the blade so while a part remained stuck in Gaara's exposed stomach, there was enough of a section out to remove it and Itachi no longer control the weapon stabbing him. She attempted to then jump away, but Itachi was quickly upon her in her vulnerable position and had the broken katana cutting into her neck as he held her back against him.

"Sasuke will be arriving here because knowing my foolish little brother, he left as soon as he heard about me visiting Konoha. Tell him I will kill Miss Haruno." Then Itachi was gone in a puff of smoke and a primal scream filled the village as Gaara's anger flooded out of him through his mouth.

~.S~.A~.S~.U~.K~.E~.

When he arrived at the village, Sasuke had expected to have to knock out some guards, maybe some civilians also to get into the village. The last thing he expected was to be greeted and asked to go the village to meet someone expecting him. When he noticed the streets of the village were practically empty he sped up his pace, slightly panicked at the deserted state of the village. When he got to hospital a nurse directed him to a private room and when he arrived at the room he was surprised to find the Kazekage sitting up in bed staring at the wall across from him. The Kazekage was shirtless with bandages tightly wrapped around his torso and slightly stained red the left side of

Sasuke stepped into the room and closed the door after him and only then did he earn Gaara's attention. Sasuke moved to sit in a chair next to the Kazekage's bed, trying hard to keep a calm exterior while inside he was on high alert.

Just as Sasuke sat down Gaara spoke. "Your brother has Sakura, took her right in front of me." Sasuke was immediately on his feet, slamming his clenched fists down on the arm rests of the bed.

With an infuriated growl Sasuke screamed, "Why didn't you stop him? He will show no mercy! He can go into her mind and destroy her from the inside out! He will _kill _her!" When Sasuke had finished screaming, panting with his veins sticking out, Gaara looked into his eyes.

"I need you, I need Naruto, and I need Tsunade. I will resign as Kazekage if my elders will not permit this mission and have one of my siblings take over so the mission can be approved. I love her."


	15. Sand Tracker

**A/N: **Kiteria, thank you for going back and reviewing multiple chapters! It was a really awesome push, along with all the new story favorites and follows, to write! Thank you to everyone for your great support! I do have stuffy stuff on my profile (kinda like journal entries) so if I haven't updated in a while you can look there and I might have an explanation there as there is one for me being missing for a bit. Anyways, I know I'm a horrible author and you may yell at me, but this is the first time I've ever had such a horrible case of writers block. I've got nothing for ANY of my stories! It's so depressing! **12/22/12 **Now it's been even longer and I feel awful, but I really had nothing until now. I sat down, put on music, and then just started writing. I know it's short, but I finally got Chrome so my spelling should be better now!

Sasuke simply stared at the red head for several seconds before scoffing. "You don't know what the hell love is."

Gaara had to chuckle at that comment. "I may not know much on the topic of love, but you were stupid enough to not accept Sakura's love." That comment left the air tense and silent in its aftermath. After several minutes in the tense silence Gaara added, "I've sent a letter to you Hokage asking for her assistance as well as Naruto's to retrieve Sakura."

"You have no idea where Itachi took her!" Sasuke commented snidely, sneering at the Kazekage.

"No, but it seems your brother wants to lure you back out so if we visit locations where the Akatsuki, specifically Itachi, have been active he's likely to come after you." Sasuke couldn't help but to agree with Gaara's comments. If it was true that one of the main reasons Sakura had been taken was to bring back his hatred for Itachi, then searching for Itachi to try and kill him would probably be a good way to bring him out into the open.

"Fine. I'll be staying at one of the hotels. Contact me when you have a plan or have heard from Naruto or Tsunade." Then Sasuke was gone, slamming the door after him as Gaara silently stared at his hands.

~.T~.S~.U~.N~.A~.D~.E~.

Naruto entered her office with apprehension, glancing around the room nervously like she'd called him to her office for something as menial as him teachin Konohamaru more perverted justsus like he had been.

"Naruto, sit down," she instructed, leaving no room for argument. He obeyed and she open her mouth, revealing a plan he would not be happy about. "I'm going to Suna to join Gaara in a retrieval mission. While I'm away, you will take over as Hokage and manage all my duties. At all costs, do not let the village know there Hokage has left them. Kakashi as well as Anko and Shizune are the only ones who know about this and will carry out any orders you have to the appropriate ninjas."

Naruto stared at her, confused on why she'd be in such a rush to leave to help Gaara with a retrieval mission when Gaara had Sakura's help. "Baa-chan, why doesn't Sakura help Gaara with his mission?"

Tsunade's hands, which had been clasped together on top of her desk, tightened to the point of her knuckles turning a bright while. "Sakura is who we are retrieving. She was taken by Itachi Uchiha a day and a half ago. I just received word from Gaara about this and it seems Sasuke is already there, having left immediately after finding out Sakura's home had been invaded by his brother. I'm going to go there and with Gaara, we will bring her back. _You _need to stay here and protect Konoha while I'm away."

As expected, Naruto was not happy with the plan. He was instead furious. "I **won't** sit back and do **nothing** while** Sakura** is in the hands of **Itachi Uchiha**!" Naruto roared, the Kyuubi's voice mingling in with his.

"You won't be doing nothing, you'll be protecting and leading the village you have worked your whole life to protect and lead! This has been your life's goal since you were in the academy; don't throw it away by being senseless! Gaara and I together can bring Sakura back, but I need someone here making sure there is something for her to come back to!" Tsunade retorted, suddenly standing and releasing her hands from their clenched position to slam her palms down on the table. "It's about time you realized you can't always live by your emotions!"

Naruto was lost for words with what Tsunade had said. It was all true, he'd spent his whole life chasing the dream of being Hokage and now it was being handed to him. If he did well, it might even help secure him a position as the next Hokage. Another point that left him without a response was her final comment, about him not being able to live by his emotions. It was the first time that was true since every time before acting on how he felt had also been logical. Never before had a friend on his been hostage, not counting Sasuke since Sasuke had gone willingly, and he was lost for what to do.

"You will stay here. You will lead the village. You will protect the village. And above all else, you will not give up this opportunity that you have worked your whole life for!" she commanded, and he could not disobey.

~.S~.A~.K~.U~.R~.A~.

He was holding the broken remainder of the katana against her throat, jumping from tree to tree, and not caring as the blade cut up her knife. The cuts weren't deep and weren't damaging to anything internal, but every time he jumped she was worried the knife would slip and cut her throat. She had attempted, several times, to escape his grasp only to be stabbed in painful, but not life threatening places. It seemed Itachi himself had a strong knowledge of the human body, strong enough to know extremely painful but not deadly points he could stab her.

Suddenly, he stopped on a branch, the blade digging deeper into her neck from the sudden stop. That was when he called out, "Kisame." Sakura stiffened in Itachi's arms upon hearing him call out the name of his ruthless partner who stepped out from behind the trunk of the tree in front of them onto the branch.

"So, Pinky's back?" That only cause Sakura to glare at the blue skinned man, annoyed with the ridiculous nickname.

~.G~.A~.A~.R~.A~.

When Sasuke returned, looking smug, Gaara was prepared. "How the hell do you plan to find her?" Sasuke asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but his smugness shining through.

Gaara simply opened his palm to reveal a pile of sand in his palm and it began to quaver before spreading across his palm and wrapping around his hand to form a section of the sand armor. "I can feel my sand, no matter where it is. There is a select section of sand that I've left chakra in so I may be able to find it again. I gifted some of that sand to Sakura when we were young and our best chance is if she kept it with her. I can track her with it."

Sasuke seemed to bristle when Gaara mentioned being with Sakura when they were younger and snapped, "What the hell did she have to do with you when she was younger?"

"In case you've forgotten, we fought in the arena and afterwards we aided each other at the final exam fights. Following that we had a run in where I gifted her the sand," Gaara responded. "So are you in?"

"I always was."


End file.
